Mie Kodama was named the Daily News' Female Soccer Player of the Year. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Mie Kodama, a Louisville women's soccer player, filled the diary her father gave her with all sorts of notes and goals.
Tucked away were documents from team meetings, filled with pages reminding her of what she was working for. As a team, Louisville wanted to win the league and advance to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. As an individual, she wanted to break the school's scoring record while playing basketball in the same season.
Ms. Kodama and her team achieved all of these goals. Her ability to balance her individual accomplishments with team camaraderie also led her to be named the Daily News Women's Soccer Player of the Year.
“Our senior year was a miracle year,” Kodama said. “‘Make it matter’ was our motto that our seniors came up with, and that was probably the most special part of this season.”
Louisville's women's soccer team completed the championship triple this season, winning the Sunshine League title, CIF-SS Division 4 title and CIF Southern California Region Division IV title. Kodama's 41 goals set a new school record and she was named CIF-SS Division 4 Player of the Year.
However, Kodama's season got off to a slow start. She considered scoring goals to be her main job on the team, but the goals didn't come as often as she thought.
“After you make a mistake, you think about that mistake, so you make another mistake,” Kodama says. “I try to forget about that kind of thing. It's a kind of diligence, and no one wants to come home in the winter and take an ice bath in the trash can outside, so it's hard not to have to do it. It means I’m dedicated.”
Her parents encouraged her to have a goldfish memory like Ted Lasso, and Kodama also began meditating before games. She overcame her self-doubt and, with help from teammates like midfielder Kylie Morris, finished her career with 96 goals in total.
She also had 213 career points with 21 assists in 69 games and had 21 hat tricks.
Kodama became known not only for his soccer talent, but also as a basketball player for Louisville. Although she lived for the game, she often had to decline her team's meals and meetings with her friends due to obligations to another sport.
Also, school regulations limited the amount of time he could practice with the team, so he often practiced independently on his own time.
“There can certainly be (loneliness) because you often have to sacrifice something for something,” Kodama said. “I had to train on my own, I had to review my play on my own. Sometimes I wonder why I'm doing this. But as soon as I get back on the field, that's why.”
The Louisville women's basketball team won the CIF-SS Division 2A championship a day after the women's soccer team won the CIF-SS championship.
The athlete's ability to play two sports in one season garnered attention, with news articles about her appearing online, in print, and on television. This created an interesting dichotomy for Kodama, who was trying hard to spread her talent between two teams while being in the spotlight alone.
She used the opportunity to highlight her teammates and their accomplishments and give new people an overview of Louisville and her school.
“People think this is a one-man show, but it's quite the opposite,” Kodama said. “I try to shout myself out to as many teammates as possible in every interview, because I score goals, but there are so many other factors that go into a goal. It’s from.”
Kodama shined this season on his own and with the help of his teammates, coaches and school personnel, including athletic trainer Kay Montgomery.
By learning to be part of a team while finding himself, Kodama was able to leave a strong impression at Louisville.
